Wow. No wonder the Patriots skipped down the field. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Dave Hyde wrote:

Second-guess of the day: Cameron Wake and Jared Odrick spent most of the Patriots' game-cementing drive on the sideline. I'm not sure what that was about. Tired? Strategy? New England took over with 8:28 left in the game and leading, 20-13. The Dolphins needed a stop to get the ball back. Rookies Derrick Shelby and Olivier Vernon replaced Wake and Odrick. New England ran eight plays, moved 50 yards and got a nice rhythm to the Dolphins 30. Then the Dolphins took a time-out with 4:15 left in the game and put Wake and Odrick. At that point, much of the damage was done.

Can't say I agree with the move, but from what I remember those runs were straight up the gut and not around the ends. I'm not sure how much of an impact Odrick and Wake would have had, but I agree that they should have been out there.

So why were end Cameron Wake, arguably their best defender, and the other No. 1 end, Jared Odrick, on the bench?

“It’s all about keeping guys fresh throughout the game,” defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said Monday. “We didn’t play particularly well in that last drive, but that had nothing to do with who was in the game, in terms of the rotation.”

...

Coach Joe Philbin said Wake and Odrick were resting as part of the natural rotation, and that he “absolutely” stands by the decision not to have them in the game.

...

Coyle also dismissed the notion that the Patriots had success running the ball because Wake and Odrick were out, saying that Shelby and Vernon graded out positively on every snap of that drive. According to the official game book, five of the six runs were up the middle, and one was over the right tackle.

...

“They could not have done more than what those other guys were doing on the outside,” Coyle said of Wake and Odrick. “There were breakdowns throughout the drive, I’ll admit to that, but it wasn’t because of those guys being in the game.”